Leadership

Business Pros Fail Basic Grammar

By Jessica Stillman

Updated on: May 23, 2008 / 1:39 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

The Find: 85 percent of written correspondence among adults and business professionals contains grammatical errors.
The Source: An analysis of more than 5,000 pieces of business and other writing from software firm WhiteSmoke Inc.

The Takeaway: WhiteSmoke makes grammar checking software, so their motives in conducting this survey might be suspect, but the numbers are still pretty alarming. Researchers took a close look at writing at samples from adults, aged 18-80. Perhaps the findings aren't that surprising, considering recent research showing that the loose grammar and informal usage of text messaging is increasingly slipping into the formal school writing of students. Adults, too, may be affected by the LOL bug.

The Question: Has SMS and text messaging somewhow degraded your own writing?